Carden, Hardy, Cooper lead Pirates

Published: Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 08:03 PM.

Carden passed for 255 yards, and senior running back Vintavious Cooper gained 148 on the ground.

“I’m pretty proud of my day. It’s not just me. A lot of the guys contributed,” Cooper said.

Hardy reeled in a 3-yard touchdown grab on ECU’s opening possession, the 25th of his career. Wolfpack’s Tony Creecy tied the game with a 4-yard touchdown grab from Brandon Mitchell.

Carden then found Bryce Williams for a a 5-yard score before running into the end zone to push the Pirates’ lead to 21-7.

Carden bowled in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown and Breon Allen punched it in from three yards. N.C. State scored with 5:22 remaining in the game. Mitchell tossed up a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jumichael Ramos, but on the ensuing ECU possession, Carden lobbed a 25-yard pass to Lance Ray in the corner of the end zone.

Rashard Smith snagged a 30-yard touchdown pass with :51 seconds remaining, and Ramos had another touchdown reception with five seconds left to move the Wolfpack within two scores.

Carden passed for 255 yards, and senior running back Vintavious Cooper gained 148 on the ground.

“I’m pretty proud of my day. It’s not just me. A lot of the guys contributed,” Cooper said.

Hardy reeled in a 3-yard touchdown grab on ECU’s opening possession, the 25th of his career. Wolfpack’s Tony Creecy tied the game with a 4-yard touchdown grab from Brandon Mitchell.

Carden then found Bryce Williams for a a 5-yard score before running into the end zone to push the Pirates’ lead to 21-7.

Carden bowled in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown and Breon Allen punched it in from three yards. N.C. State scored with 5:22 remaining in the game. Mitchell tossed up a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jumichael Ramos, but on the ensuing ECU possession, Carden lobbed a 25-yard pass to Lance Ray in the corner of the end zone.

Rashard Smith snagged a 30-yard touchdown pass with :51 seconds remaining, and Ramos had another touchdown reception with five seconds left to move the Wolfpack within two scores.

“Playing here in the middle of a conference race is tough,” McNeill said. “For them to stay focused against an in-state rival, I’m very proud of them.

“We would have liked to have finished better. I’m happy with the win, but now we have to get ready for this short week.”

Mitchell passed for 312 yards and four touchdowns and Smith caught seven passes for 104 yards. The Wolfpack (3-8) racked up 441 yards of offense, while ECU gained 445 yards.

“We played until the end and I am very proud of our guys for that,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “We didn’t make enough plays defensively or offensively in the first half and when we came alive in the fourth quarter, unfortunately, it was a little too late.

“Brandon threw for 300 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s a good thing for him.”

The Pirates travel to Marshall on Friday to play for the C-USA East title. With a win, ECU will host the conference championship game.

“We are a very confident team right now,” Carden said. “This was our ninth win of the season. We know this was a big win for us. We have Marshall is less than a week, so this is going to be a quick one to move on from.”